


Big Dogs and Trivia

by z_z_z_the_non_binary_queen



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Theatre, M/M, Sanders Sides fluff, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, also super nervous for my secret santa to read this but oh well, also thank you to the event makers this got me back into the swing of writing, everyone gets a happy ending, i love this story so much ugh, more on: i dont know how to use the ships tag on ao3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21825988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/z_z_z_the_non_binary_queen/pseuds/z_z_z_the_non_binary_queen
Summary: When the theatre program that the crew helped make is in trouble, they brainstorm for ways to save it. Shenanigans and romance ensue.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27
Collections: Sanders Sides Secret Santa 2019





	Big Dogs and Trivia

**Author's Note:**

> To my secret santa, hope you like it ;)

“Roman, you motherfucker-” Virgil cursed as Roman cackled, hopping up to take a bow as the rest of the group laughed at them. Roman Álvarez straightened, flashing a smile at Virgil Dante as he shrugged and said, casually:

“You know the rules V- I get to pick the song now, and although ‘Meant To Be Yours’ was terribly angsty and very on point for your aesthetic-”

“Why thank you.”

“My aesthetic is, well,” he gestured around them. Sanders High had a small, but close theatre program. The crowds were always packed at their performances, and as the seniors that helped create the program, they had this class to themselves. They sat in a circle, on the stage, which the theatre teacher, Declan Ceit, shook his head at the kids. This was the spring semester of their senior year and honestly, they were just chilling.

Except for Logan Starr, obviously. And his boyfriend, Patton Cohen. And his brother, Emile Cohen. And his boyfriend, Remy Qahua. They exchanged looks as the two started to argue about Romans song choice, Hurricane, (Roman insisted it was amazing for a future writer/actor, Virgil reminded him it was about exposing Hamilton's affair, on and on). It was clear to all of them, including Mr. Ceit, that they liked each other. A lot. Unfortunately, any attempts to set them up were failed because of their absolute obliviousness. It always went something like so:

“Hey, V, I think Roman doesn’t have a date to the dance.”

“I think he’ll find one- look at him, he can talk to anyone.”

“And yet he’s talking to you…..?”

“Yeah, cause he’s a dumbass.”

“What does that even mean I don’t-”

Which, at that point, Patton had to be dragged away before revealing anything because, here was the worst part, they both liked each other. They had both told the group, separately, and begged them not to tell, though in very different ways. Roman had created a group chat titled, “help im a dumbass” and screeched about his feelings, while Virgil has accidentally let it slip to Patton and then when he flipped out as expected, Virgil told the group because, “If I didn’t, he would have. Maybe. Whatever.”

In any case, Roman stood up as Mr. Ceit started up the music. If anyone had pointed it out, the class would have noticed Virgil was a little more flushed than usual, watching Roman sing his heart out. With literal heart eyes. But no one did.

Mostly it was him remembering the spring musical that had just ended, _Crazy For You_. Roman had finally, finally got the lead role in the musical, something he had been working towards since freshman year. And he did fucking amazing. Bobby Child had come to life and damn it, it was one of the times Roman had been at the peak of happiness, and he knew it. Virgil, though he’d never admit it, was proud of him. 

Maybe he had admitted it. You’d never know.

As he ended, his friends applauded him, Patton standing up and cheering for his friend, Virgil a little sarcastically, (playfully), and the rest normally, Ceit stood up. The young teacher shook the hair out of his light green eyes, revealing the segmental vitiligo on one side of his face, bright against his tan skin.

“Now, let’s address the elephant in the room.” The students got quiet as Roman went back to his seat. “You’re seniors. Going off to college for different things.” He sighed and smiled at them. “I’d really hate it if you came and visited it, not to get sappy.” They all chuckled at him as he scrunched his nose, shaking the hair out of his face. “Just, stay in contact, alright?”

Remy narrowed his eyes at him, leaning forward. “Mr. C, is something wrong?” Declan looked at him with a quizzical expression, gesturing for him to continue. “I just mean, you sound like we’re never gonna see you again, and its Tuesday, so we definitely are, aren’t we?” The teacher sighed and sat back, shrugging.

“I...well I don’t mean to freak you guys out, but the school is starting to look at cutting funding. Especially for art programs. Something about more college preparedness.” He scoffed and shook his head. “Like you can’t go to school for theatre.” He looked up at the alarmed faces of his students and said quickly, “No, no, no. I don’t want you to worry about it. All I need to do is do a few more fundraisers next year, maybe go in front of the board and convince them to keep us afloat, do not worry about it. You’ve got, what, a month left of school here? It is pretty much officially no longer your problem.” He looked away, not meeting any of their eyes- a sure sign that it was their problem. 

Emile sat back, gears turning. He looked at Logan, his companion of book-smarts and nodded. He turned to their teacher and said, “I think we can cook something up, teach. Maybe, uh…”

“A bake sale? Maybe an auction?” Patton suggested, shrugging. “Oh, I know, a-”

“Pet wash!” Logan announced as Patton said,

“Trivia night!” The two stared at each other until Patton started giggling. “I think our personalities rubbed off on each other, Lo.” Logan sighed and shook his head, adjusting his glasses and smiling softly, agreeing with a small shrug as he gestured for Patton to continue. “Anywho, a trivia night, with Disney facts,” Roman looked ecstatic at this, “and musical stuff, maybe trivia about our school too? We could run it, maybe have people group up and enter their team of...4? And they gotta pay 20 dollars for their team to be entered, and then people can spectate for $2, and they get a prize at the end if they win!”

“With concessions too!” Emile added, “Since we’ll probably be doing this in the cafeteria, we might as well.”

“That’s...that would be amazing, Pat. And the concessions are always a great way to get people to spend.” Mr. Ceit smiled at them. “I’ll ask Dr. Dot as soon as I can, but Lo, what were you thinking?”

  
“Well, people love their pets, we have a lot of pet lovers here,” he gestured to the group, all of which had pets, “We can offer our services on a warmer day, so it can be outside, and charge differently for different sized pets.” 

Remy grinned at Logan. “Are you gonna be running that thing, pocket protector?”

“Oh hell no- I would prefer to be on the trivia night team, but since that was Patton’s idea-”

“Are you kidding??” Patton wiggled excitedly in his seat. “I’m definitely on Team Pet Wash, we can switch.”

“Excellent- who else wants to help with trivia night?”

The seniors quickly split up into groups, and the plans were hammered out too. Logan, Emile, and Remy were going to run the trivia night, and Patton, Roman, and Virgil were going to take the lead in the pet wash. They were going to be on different nights, so Mr. Ceit could supervise both, but those groups were going to be running the event. A message was sent out to the rest of the theatre kids in the program, and those who could volunteer did. 

As the class was dismissed, the Cohen brothers walked to AP Psychology, discussing their various events. Remy and Logan walked to the library for study hall, and Roman and Virgil walked to Culinary, a shared, not-so-secret interest for both of them. Virgil loved to bake, something that he and his grandma did together and calmed him, while Romans talent in the kitchen was anything he could cook to a beat- he didn’t have much patience for the intricacies of baking, but at most times while he was cooking, he could be seen dancing with whoever was in the kitchen as he stirred, chopped, sliced and diced. 

As for Roman at the moment, he hefted his bag on his shoulder a little higher and asked, “Hey, Virge, can I ask you something?” Virgil looked down at Roman, (They were exactly 5 inches apart, with Virgil standing at 5’9”, and no, Virgil would never let that go), and nodded. “Why the pet wash? I mean, I know the fact that you’re a vampire and can’t stand the sun, so you probably shouldn’t be at the pet wash” Virgil snorted at this indignantly, “but I feel like trivia night is more your thing, I guess.”

Virgil shrugged. “My mom’s a vet, so I kinda dig the little guys. They..” he looked away as if he was a little embarrassed. “They’re cool.” He smiled sheepishly at Roman. “Not my aesthetic, I guess.” 

Roman grinned up at him. “ _So_ not your aesthetic. I dig it.” He said teasingly, bumping shoulders with Virgil, as best he could. The taller smiled wider and rolled his eyes, and they walked together in comfortable silence to their next class, each thinking about everything unsaid.

~

The next few weeks flew by in a blur of planning, singing, acting, (they were still theatre kids after all), and nervousness. On the day of the trivia night, the leaders paced “backstage”. The cafeteria was packed with 12 teams, each team having up to 6 players, (the number had been increased, due to popular demand. When Mr. Ceit had heard this, he beamed with pride, telling Patton, “Not a bad idea, huh kid?”), with spectators in the behind them. Cell phones had been collected as the teams walked in, and now Team Trivia was in the auditorium, scattered around the theater and stage, preparing themselves to face the crowd. Yes, they had experience with the plays, but this was kind of a whole new ball game.

Team Trivia had further split into groups- Logan and Emile were going to host, announcing questions and answers, while Remy was, in his own words, “going to Vanna White this shit up” by keeping score, tallying points, and generally trying to hype the crowd up. As hype as a trivia night could get, which would prove to be pretty hype. The other 3 would be selling tickets, (Roman), and running the concession stand, (Virgil and Pat, since Patton and Emile’s parents were the owners of the Cohen Bakery, who had graciously sponsored the event). All of them were in uniform- a dark button-down with a bowtie and khaki pants. The hosts were wearing a dark blue and purple space-themed bowtie, (Logan’s choice, of course), while the other three were wearing lighter bowties, striped with light blue and red, (Roman’s choice, it gave their outfits a spot of color that the hosts didn’t have, Roman claimed- at which point Logan looked very offended).

At the moment, however, they were all in the auditorium. Logan and Patton were off to the side, talking quietly, Patton absentmindedly adjusting Logan’s bowtie. He was biting his lip in concentration as Logan looked down at him, smiling that soft, reserved smile he hid for Patton. They were talking about mundane things, spending the time before their time in the spotlight in each other’s company, as they had done since freshman year, fighting off the nerves. And as they had done any other time they had needed to fight off nerves after that- a big test, a bad day, coming out to your parents, (who were all accepting; Logan’s dad, Demarcus, and mom, Talove, loved Patton. They baked cookies and ate dinner with Patton’s entire family, including Patton’s moms, Adi and Naomi), and yeah, a trivia night that could help keep the program you helped start-up and going for the next few years.

Emile was with Virgil, attempting to comb his hair flat, since he was pretty much the only one who could properly see and reach, and wasn’t occupied with his boyfriend (Emile and Patton stood at 5’10” and 5’8” which made kissing for Remy, with his 5’6” boyfriend somewhat of a challenge. Logan and Patton were close in size, Logan being 5’9”, which made the scene over in the corner of their softness so much cuter). 

Roman and Remy were just surveying the scene, both getting ready for their various jobs in comfortable silence. Unbeknownst to the general public, both were just introverts with flair. They loved spending times with the people they trusted, but both needed time to themselves before and after, and they had been close, (figuratively and literally- they were neighbors), all of their lives. Many a Saturday they could be seen chilling in the Álvarez or Qahua household, facemasks and Netflix on, relaxing in peace, barely talking. Now, Remy turned to Roman and smirked, nudging him with his shoulder.

“Hey, Princey, you think Virgil would appreciate you walking over and trying to comb his hair?”

“ _Hell_ no fool, you think I can reach?” He sighed, lovestruck, “He’s a beanpole.” He gave Remy a pointed look. “You ever reach Em’s hair, shorty?”

Choosing to ignore Roman’s comment, Remy clutched at his heart and sighed dramatically. “Ah, me! Cupid is back in town, is he? Making people sound like lovesick puppies every time they say anything about their,” Remy made quotation marks with his hand, “‘Friend-who-is-definitely-not-a-crush-he’s-just-really-cute-and-I-think-I’m-in-love-with-him.’” Roman scoffed and shoved him playfully. Remy chuckled and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Listen, seriously Ro, go for it. You guys have been in love since, like, freakin’ sophomore year. A million years ago.” 

Roman looked a bit confused and then nodded. “Yeah, a million years ago.” He sighed. “We’ve both been super focused on everything else though, with the musical and finals and college and now this. And yeah, I guess we’ve still got time but- whatever, let’s just focus on now.” He checked his watch. “Yeah, time for me to take over from Mr. Ceit outside, and for you guys,” He raised his voice a bit, addressing everyone in the room, “to man your battle stations, I think.”

Logan nodded, giving Patton one last soft look, (one he only, only ever gave Patton), and said, “Yes, alright, let’s get going. Let’s remember, this is for fun, but also to get money, so do whatever is needed for that.”

“And remember, fuck shit up and don’t die!” Remy announced, stretching out his shoulders.

Emile and Virgil, in unison, wiped away a fake tear and said, “Inspirational.”

~

“Alright, y’all, who is ready for the final round!!” Emile announced, the crowd cheering in response. The teams had been narrowed down to the final 2, with the last round being a buzzer round. Remy gestured grandly to the scoreboard- neck, and neck, with 16 points each, (there had been 9 previous rounds, with 2 points for each round). Logan pulled out the last flashcard with the answer, worth one point; whoever buzzed in first would get the last point and pull in with the lead. Emile stood next to the team on the right, the Sherlock Homies, who were, their own words, filled with nerds. They all stood proud, confident in their trivia skills. Remy stood with the team on the left, the Low Expectations, who had entered for fun and somehow got that far, which Remy claimed, “spoke to me”.

“Now, for the final point, the fictional trophy and a ten dollar iTunes gift card for each of their teammates, a musical question, so we can all remember what we’re here for, which is the Sanders High Theatre Company!” A cheer ripped through the crowd, all of which had been to at least one show- they were all supporters of the group, parents of younger theater kids or people who went to their school and just loved the plays or just wanted to play some trivia and thought it was good to support the group. “Now, for the final point, question 10- The Milkman and Other Stories is a book that which musical was based on?”

The Sherlock Homies looked shocked as Low Expectations buzzed in almost immediately, with the leader, beaming with joy, saying, “Fiddler on the Roof!!”

“That is correct, which means-” Logan was interrupted by an eruption of gleeful, shocked screeches from the team on the left, (and the crowd), all hugging and high-fiving- and chuckling at the shocked look on the Sherlock Homies faces. Logan smiled and continued, saying, “the team Low Expectations wins, with a total of 17 points. The team Sherlock Homies,” he chuckled and shook his head at the name, “ends up in second place through a tie-breaker, which we have prepared a coupon for each member of the team for a free, fresh loaf of bread, anytime, from the Cohens Bakery.” He nodded at Patton, who smiled widely and waved at all of them, with Virgil behind him waving less gleefully, more embarrassed. The crowd broke into a cheer as the teams claimed their prizes, waving at the crowd, applauding even louder as Mr. Ceit ushered the boys into the spotlight, deserving the recognition from their peers. 

~

“Step right up, folks, big boys over here, medium over there, small babies there!!” Patton called. He was wearing shorts and a black tank top that read, “My puns are” with a picture of a koala and a cup of tea, showing off his freckled arms and legs. He was beaming at a huge St.Bernard and his owner, Mr. Ceit. 

“Hey there, kiddo, the cutest little baby boy I’ve seen ever!!!” He cooed, with Ceit chuckling behind him.

“Yeah, 6 whole years old is a pretty young dog, huh?” He said sarcastically. Patton scoffed and petted the dog, which enthusiastically brought his head up to meet the gentle pets.

“Ethan is the cutest little baby boy there is, and that's that.” He nodded, as if to affirm it, and got up, looking around. Emile had this time taken up the concessions, pointing out bowls of water to the owners standing in line, selling both human and dog treats as he wove around the lawn at the front of the school. Remy and Logan were directing the people arriving at their stations- 10 dollars for a small dog, 15 for a medium-sized one, and 20 for a big one. The dogs were all enthusiastically interacting, and so were the owners. It was nice to not have to spend a day washing their dogs in their backyards, they all thought, watching the sections of theatre kids washing 2-3 dogs at a time. 

Roman was washing the smaller dogs, wearing a dark red tank top, almost glowing against his brown skin, with the help of Virgil, clad in a dark t-shirt, (Roman swooned), and his usual black jeans. They worked together on a small Maltese named Barbie, owned by their friend Tyler. He had graduated the year before, but they had stayed in contact, and he came out to support his friends’ endeavors. 

“Anyway, college has been okay, I guess- hows high school treating you, babies?” 

Roman laughed sarcastically up at him. “It’s been wonderful, old man. I got the lead for the musical this spring, and that was pretty lit- I think I did alright.” He said, humble, focusing on washing the suds out of Barbie’s fur.

“Alright? You did amazing, Ro” Virgil said, interjecting, opening up a towel to start drying off the little dog. Squinting up at Tyler, he said, “It was pretty great, honestly. He got in the paper and everything.” 

Roman blushed slightly, not meeting Virgil’s eyes as he dried Barbie’s face and ears with a separate towel, softly saying, “Thanks, Virge…” Virgil nodded, not meeting Roman’s eyes either.

“Oh, this shit is still going on, huh?” Tyler said, smirking. Both looked up from their task, confused, and he sighed, shaking his head. “Y'all are oblivious, huh?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ty,” Roman said coolly, straightening, brushing his hands off as Tyler bent down to pet and leash his dog. Virgil stood too, still not meeting Roman’s eyes. Tyler stood too, looking at both of them with disbelief.

“Guys, seriously, you like each other. Do something about it.” He pulled out ten dollars and handed it to the dumbstruck Virgil. “I’ll see y’all later.” He waved and walked away, leaving Virgil and Roman standing together awkwardly. 

“I-uh…” Virgil started, stuttering. Roman looked over to see his face reddening, eyes planted firmly in the ground. Roman giggled a little bit and looked away as the next person stepped up with their little toy poodle, and the two got to work.

~

“Hey, Em?” Patton said, a little worriedly, tapping him on the shoulder. Emile looked over his shoulder from talking to Remy, hand in hand, under the shade of the break tent, where they had been discussing Emile’s latest hyper-fixation, (Steven Universe, revamped because of the new season), the latest dinners at the Qahua household, (Remy’s parents, being Arab, made the best dinners ever, hands down), the cutest dogs, the worst owners, and other gossips of Team Pet Wash’s fundraiser. 

“Yeah, what’s up Pat?” He asked, turning around fully. He and Remy were a little concerned- anything that worried Patton deserved their attention.

“Oh, it’s just- I know they’re on their break but I have no clue where Roman and Virgil are.” He scrunched his nose a little and shook his head. “They’ll reappear when their break ends, I know that I’m just a little worried, is all. Logan’s looking right now, so it’s all good, but they’re not answering their texts so...” 

Emile and Remy exchanged looks. Patton’s “worried papa bear face” was definitely in play. 

“Hm.” Remy let go of Emile’s hand with a soft look, stretching. “I’ll go look in all the possible make-out spots, hm? Behind the school and such. ” He smirked as Emile chuckled and smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

“Don’t rush them, Rem darling, it’s mean.” Remy grinned and pulled Emile in for a peck on the forehead, draping his arm around Emile’s waist before turning to leave just- as Logan walked in with a blank, dead stare.

“Lo?” Patton asked, walking towards him and touching his arm. “You okay?” Logan shook his head and sat down on the nearest seat, looking up at them all desperately.

“I found them behind the school. Why me?” He shook his head as Remy dissolved into giggles, doubling over with laughter as Emile and Patton hid their smiles. “It was, ultimately, horrible. I was so innocent. How can you come back from accidentally walking in on your best friends kissing?”

With a deadpan stare, directly at Logan, Emile said, “Try forgetting walking in on your twin and best friend making out.” With that, the four erupted in laughter, tears streaming down Patton’s blushing face.

~

Roman pulled back, blushing. He bit his kiss-swollen lips and looked down at his watch. “We, uh, should get back soon- our break's almost over.” He licked his lips as he stared up at Virgil, back against the wall, a perfect vantage point to Virgil's flushed face and equally swollen lips. Virgil chuckled a little and swooped back in for a softer, slower kiss than the past few minutes, cupping Roman’s face with a hand and pulling him closer by the waist with the other before pulling away and chuckling.

“How bad do you think we’re gonna get yelled at when we get back?” he asked, smiling down at Roman as he moved back, allowing Roman to walk forward, which he did, grabbing Virgil’s hand in the process.

“By Mr. C? I don’t think much, he’s probably been waiting for this to happen as long as we have- but by Patton?” He shuddered a little. “We should wait for him to cool off, seeing as we did sneak off and traumatized his boyfriend.”

Virgil laughed and squeezed Roman’s hand, saying, “No, that’s a strong word- more like we scarred him for a while.”

“Same difference, emo nightmare.”

“You cannot say that while we’re dating, it’s against the law.”

“You haven’t taken me on a date yet so…” he shrugged nonchalantly. “I also haven’t told my mom and dad and sisters and brothers yet, and they’re they real deciders if they approve or not.” Virgil’s eyes widened, which prompted Roman to continue quickly, “As in, you have to sit through dinner and compliment my mom and listen to stupid stories of me as a kid. And then take me on a date.” He added. 

Virgil, looking thoroughly relieved, said, “Oh, yeah, I am so down to compliment your mom and get more blackmail stuff on you.”

“So I can’t call you emo nightmare but you can blackmail me?”

“Yeah, so?’

“ _Dios mío_ , Virgil-” Roman rolled his eyes up at Virgil who chuckled, squeezing Roman's hand again. Roman laughed a little, bringing Virgil’s hand to his mouth and kissing it softly. “I think you need to rethink-”

“Ahem.” The new pair stopped in their tracks. In front of them stood their freckly papa bear Patton, who looked very, very worried, holding hands with Logan, who did not meet either of their eyes. “Hello, you two.” Patton, dropping the worried expression and smiling widely, lifted his and Logan’s hand as if to say, ‘Same hat!’. “You did it!” He said gleefully.

Remy and Emile popped their heads out of the tent, Remy wolf-whistling and Emile waving and giving them a thumbs-up, supportive but staying out of the way. The pair blushed but did not drop their hands.

“Now,” Patton said, smile fading into a joking-but-definitely-serious-expression. “Let’s talk about you too sneaking off.”

“ _Dios mío_ …”

~

“Wanna fight for me…?” Remy sang, getting down on a knee and gesturing wildly to Emile, who rolled his eyes and shrugged, fighting back a smile, chiming in with the rest of them:

_“Holy shit…”_

“If you’re still alive…”

_“Holy shit…”_

“I would fight for you…”

_“Holy shit…”_

“If you would fight for me!”

_“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!”_

They all looked at each other and burst into applause. It was the Monday after the pet wash, and all of them had rushed to theatre, chattering about how their phones blew up with compliments about their fundraisers, how much fun the trivia night was, how good their pets smelled, and all good things. Roman and Virgil walked in hand-and-hand, which elicited another round of wolf-whistling from Remy and gleeful stimming from Patton. They were all very proud and relieved since their friends were happy and the romantic tension could maybe simmer down a little. 

Mr. Ceit stood, fake wiping tears from his eyes to the laughter of his students before chuckling and sighing. “Inspirational- very glad Dr. Dot didn’t walk in while you were singing that, by the way. Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for- in all, we earned- drum roll please?” 

The kids all tapped out a rapid beat on their chairs as Ceit announced, “Over the past week, we earned about 8,000 dollars.” The boys fell silent as Declan stared. “G-guys? 8k? Lots of money?” He looked slightly scared at the silence until…

“Holy shit,” Patton whispered, covering his mouth with his hands. “That is a fuck ton of money.”

They all erupted into laughter and cheering, leaping up to hug each other and Mr. Ceit, except Roman. He was still in his seat, having burst into happy tears. It took all them a second to realize, and when they all did, they crowded around his chair, concerned, while he waved them all away.

“I’m fine, I’m good, I just-” he blubbered, wiping away his tears, “This program its- oh, god, what’s the wor- _mi vida_ ,” he said, tapping his chest over his heart. “My life.” He sniffled a little and smiled up at them all. “We did it. We actually, honest to god, did.” 

Patton wiped away a tear as he helped Roman up and hugged him. “Sure did, buddy. We did it.”

“Wow.” Declan sniffled, turning away from his students. “Nice one, guys, making me cry, really appreciate it.” They all laughed and hugged some more, tearier than before.

~

“Ramez Qauha.” The stands and crowd erupted into cheers as Remy stepped up onto the platform to accept his diploma, bowing dramatically to the stands before hopping off the platform and joining his friends. They all grinned and patted him on the back, watching as the rest of their graduating class got their diplomas. Emile and Logan, who had tied for valedictorian, had both given speeches earlier, talking about their years at school, the road ahead, and thanking their teachers, especially Mr. Ceit, who definitely did not cry at those parts. Definitely. 

In any case, they were all finally graduating, which Patton had been pondering on for a while. He turned to the rest of the group and whispered, “Hey, guys?”

“Yeah?” Roman said quietly, turning to him as the rest of his close friends did.

“You think Mr. C is gonna be okay? I know he’s like, a teacher adult dude and all that but…” Patton trailed off, looking worriedly at the ground. The rest of the group looked at each other. Anything that worried Patton deserved their attention. Virgil, who was sitting next to him patted his shoulder. 

“He’s gonna be okay, Pat. I mean, he’s got the rest of the theatre, and we’re all gonna visit.” 

Patton nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but at that exact moment, Dr. Dot announced, “Logan Starr.” The group all stood, cheering as loudly as the rest of the stands did, as Logan accepted his diploma with a beaming smile. They all continued to cheer as he walked down and took a seat, grin still on his face.

“Hello, my good friends- what’s going on?”

“Papa bear is a little worried about Mr. Ceit,” Roman said, putting a hand on Patton’s back and rubbing comfortingly. Logan’s smile faded a little as he bit his lip, deep in thought.

“I’ve been thinking the same thing, quite honestly.” Logan sighed and looked up into the stands where Ceit said he’d be. “Maybe we should talk to him after the ceremony?” They all nodded and turned to face the front, wondering what would happen next. 

~

After the ceremony and more tears and pictures, the crew went to go find Mr. Ceit. He was waiting by the ends of the stands, and when he saw them he grinned widely. 

“Hey, newly graduated kiddos of Sanders High!” He walked towards them all, giving them all high fives and hugs. When he took a good look at all of their faces, his smile turned into a questioning expression. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re, uh…” Roman started, looking for the right words, turning to Logan to interject.

“We’re concerned about you, frankly," Logan said quickly. "Us being your first group of kids to teach graduating and with the stress of the fundraisers and keeping the program going must be hard, although you must understand we’ll come to visit you here and watch all the shows-”

“Woah, Lo,” Declan said, holding up his hands. “I appreciate your concerns, yeah, but…” Ceit looked around to see if anyone was listening and then shrugged. “You can’t really visit me here anymore.” 

The kids looked confused until Emile gasped out. “Did you get fired??” The group erupted into crosstalk, saying they would fight for his job back and such.

“Hey, kiddos, no-” Declan said loudly, chuckling slightly. “No, no way, I’m a good teacher but, uh. I quit.” That effectively shut the kids up; they stared, waiting for an explanation. “Listen, I love teaching but acting is my life so, uh, remember awhile ago when I kept having to go to different places for different reasons?” They all nodded. “Well, uh I was auditioning. For Broadway. And I got a role.” 

All of them were quiet and then exploded with crosstalk again- this time excited and ecstatic.

“Can we get tickets to your shows?” Patton asked, almost jumping with joy.

“How did we not know this??” Virgil said, shaking his head.

“This is so cool, I can’t believe I know someone who is in a Broadway musi- wait, which is it?”

“Well,” Declan grinned, winking at him. “I can’t say yet, but one could say I was _Born For This_ role.”

“Holy SHIT.” Roman said loudly, before launching into a discussion with Emile, who was next to him, about the musical _Born For This_ , talking about the music and previous actors. 

By the time they had all rejoined their families, they were all smiling secretly at each other, since Declan had made them promise not to tell. Declan took them aside to talk to them one last time. 

“Okay kiddos, you ready?” They all knew he was referring to all the different kinds of ready they needed to be- ready for college, ready for change, ready to split up for the first time in years, ready to get out into the world. They all looked at each other, their best friends, their lovers, their family. Roman was the first to look Declan in the eye and nod, taking Virgil’s hand and squeezing it tight, eyes full of excitement for the future. Emile was next, smiling widely as he draped his arm around Patton’s shoulders, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Remy and Logan looked at each other and shrugged, locking eyes with Declan and grinning. Patton giggled and threw a thumbs up, cheerful as always. Then, they all turned to Virgil, who sighed and said, 

“Yeah, fuck it, why not. And hey, if we need anything, we can always rely on big dogs and trivia.”

_**THE END** _

**Author's Note:**

> if it wasnt obvious i know Nothing about,,,theatre classes so i made up something that sounds fun that seniors would definitely do if it was spring semester and they had nothing better to do


End file.
